Inquiries into the alleged sexual and physical abuse suffered by an intellectually disabled woman in a southeast foster home have highlighted the cases of four other young people who allegedly experienced abuse in the same home.
Service User 5
The Devine report, which was completed in 2012, found that as part of the investigation into the young woman who was sexually abused (referred to as SU1 in the report), there had been previous concerns raised by the parents of young people placed in the foster placement, including allegations that one user was locked in a cupboard under the stairs by the family.
According to the report, the parent of the man allegedly locked in a cupboard said in March 2009 that he/she did not want the child to avail of respite care in the foster home again. The man, referred to as SU5 (Service User 5) in the report, had complained to his parent about “specific alleged physical mistreatment”.
He and an immediate family member were interviewed about the claims in mid-2009 and the inquiry team concluded his accusations of physical abuse during the placement were “credible”. The allegation related to a period when the male foster parent, who died in 2001, was still alive.
Service User 3
The report shows that SU3 was also allegedly subjected to abuse during his/her placement at the foster home in the early 1990s. The service user’s mother reported concerns of abuse to the local health officer of the HSE in 1990. She subsequently gave an account of the allegations of abuse during a phone conversation in August 2007, and raised serious concerns around the handling by the then Health Board of placements in the early 1990s.
The account of the conversation was included in reports used by the HSE to obtain legal advice regarding the continuation of foster care for “Grace”, the intellectually disabled woman known in the report as SU1.
There was evidence that the health board had received allegations from SU3 of child sexual abuse against the male foster parent who died in 2001. However, a note in the file dated March 2007 indicated that SU3’s parent did not wish to have the case reopened.
The inquiry team notes in the report that there was an “apparent lack of a structured approach toward establishing and documenting the facts around the concerns raised by the service user’s parent regarding the service user’s reported experience of the placement”.
Service User 2
Complaints were also made by the parent of another disabled user, known as SU2 in the report, to the health board via a foreign health authority in 1996. Contact was made with An Garda Síochána in September 2007 regarding SU2's case and it was revealed there had been no investigation into the 1996 allegations, reportedly due to the lack of a formal complaint.
The Devine report’s inquiry team is of the view that the HSE should examine whether the then Health Board failed to investigate the written complaint made by service user’s mother following SU2’s placement in the foster home.
Service User 4
The report also shows that another individual, SU4, presented to hospital in the mid-2000s with “clinical indications” which led to concerns of abuse. SU4 had been placed in the same foster home for a short period in the late 1980s. The report’s inquiry team notes it was unaware of an “substantive investigation” being carried out into whether there was a link between the placement and the user’s presentation at hospital some 16 years later.
